1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to knee guards and braces and more particularly to such devices for reducing the chance of injury and the extent of damage to the knee area which an athlete may incur during contact sports and to give aid and support in the rehabilitation of such injury.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The principal injury to the leg develops from a blow to or a twist in th knee area. An obvious solution to protect an athlete's knee from the blow type injury would seem to be, to apply a strong metal apparatus to withstand the shock of such a blow. Of the many knee braces made, that is exactly what has been done. However, this solution has many problems. The metal knee braces of the prior art are heavy, bulky, time-consuming to affix, uncomfortable to wear, and short-lived. Their bulkiness causes a loss of mobility in a wearer's leg; their weight contributes to their tendency to slide down the leg. To prevent these braces from sliding doen when the athlete is running, excessive binding with strapping is necessary. Affixing these braces--adjusting and securing them to a wearer's leg--is very time-consuming. Moreover, there is discomfort to the wearer from the wrappings which cause perspiration to increase the weight and irritate the skin. The corrosive effect of perspiration and dust on the metal joints themselves, whether ball bearing or otherwise, of these braces causes the joints to be short-lived. Because of these inherent problems, athletes are forced to wear these braces only after an injury to a leg and not before such injury.
The lightweight braces of the prior art, on the other hand, by and large are tubes of elastic with longitudinal strips of plastic or thin metal for support on both sides of the knee. They were not designed to withstand a strong lateral blow or a twisting of the knee, but were designed as a support in a therapeutic manner.